The ancient epic 300 marches into theaters Friday, having created so much advance buzz that it has the battlefield to itself. Director Zack Snyder's hyperstylized, ultraviolent film is set in 480 B.C., when Sparta's King Leonidas led 300 warriors against the Persian army in the Battle of Thermopylae. Industry prognosticators believe the Warner Bros. release could open in the $50 million range, but caution that the film's upside might be limited somewhat by its R rating.
Based on Frank Miller's graphic novel, 300 has received adoring praise on the Web, and studio marketers have exploited online media to the fullest, launching an aggressive MySpace presence along with an official site chock full of video journals, a production blog and concept art. 300, starring Gerard Butler as Leonidas and Lena Headey as his wife, will likely garner the title of second- or third-highest opening ever for March. Ice Age: The Meltdown holds the record with $68 million, set last year, while the original Ice Age has the No. 2 slot with $46 million in 2002.
Audiences appear to be coming back to the movies, as demonstrated by last weekend's surprisingly $39.6 million debut of incumbent champ Wild Hogs. Disney's PG-13 road-trip comedy will gross about $19 million in its second weekend. Everything else opening Friday is in limited release. Fox Searchlight opens Mira Nair's The Namesake in six theaters. The PG-13 adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri's best-selling novel stars Kal Penn as an American-born son of Indian immigrants who struggles to fit in among his fellow New Yorkers. Twentieth Century Fox's new Christian-themed arm FoxFaith Movies opens The Ultimate Gift in 816 theaters. Starring James Garner, Drew Fuller and Abigail Breslin, the film centers on a man (Fuller) who must take on a series of tasks set up by his recently deceased grandfather that puts him on the road to self-discovery. Magnolia Pictures unveils two limited releases. Director Bong Joon-ho's R-rated South Korean box office smash The Host, about the creation of a mutant beast living in Seoul's Han river, will bow in 74 theaters. Rogue Pictures already has scored the remake rights.
The distributor also bows James D. Scurlock's documentary Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit and the Era of Predatory Lenders. Centering on America's dependence on personal credit, it opens in six theaters. IFC Films opens Believe in Me, a feel-good sports drama about a small-town basketball coach who is forced to coach the girls' team, in 54 theaters.